Her fingertips tingled but it wasn’t enough. Her hands wouldn’t work and her rib cage was on fire, burning with every intake of breath. She couldn’t pull the knife from the scabbard-or maintain a grip on it, in any case.
“What’s this?” JT asked, coming into the cab. Pushing her aside with humiliating ease, he pulled the short knife from the leather sheath and looked at its wicked blade. “I was going to save the cutting for Carly.”
Staring at the serrated edge, Sonny backed away slowly, moistening her dry lips.
He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans, then tested the blade’s sharpness with his fingertip. “Ouch,” he said with a grin.
Outside, there was another splash. James!
JT flinched at the sound. “That sneaky son of a bitch,” he murmured, looking out into the dark and clucking his tongue in appreciation. “Well, now they’ll both drown.”
Sonny flexed her fingers, feeling blood returning to her cuffed hands. The pain was fierce and she smiled, relishing it. Carly and James were alive, God willing, and although they couldn’t climb aboard, or swim back to land, they could tread water until help arrived.
Which would be soon, as long as Grant had sent someone to look for her.
Now was the time to stall rather than fight. She retreated until her back hit the wood siding at the edge of the cab. “Did you have an affair with Olivia?”
“Yes,” he said, his cold eyes sweeping down her body once again. “And unlike you, she was a luscious piece.” He reached out and grabbed the chain between her wrists, holding her hands out of play while he touched the blade to her cheek. “Not that I won’t enjoy having you screaming and begging beneath me.”
She laughed at the idea, but it hurt so much she stopped. “What about Sheila?”
He studied her face, not amused by her bravado. “I may have”-he slid the tip of the knife down her chest-“thrown her a bone.”
Sonny focused on regulating her breathing. Every time she inhaled, she felt a sharp stab in her side. He may have bruised a few ribs when he kicked her. “Did she pretend you were Ben the whole time you were in bed together,” she panted, “or only when she came?”
JT’s eyes returned to hers. With a deft movement, he sliced her sweater in half, exposing her bra. “You’re a ballsy little bitch,” he murmured, nodding his approval. “It will be a pleasure to break you.”
Sonny drew in another shallow breath. JT was planning to rape and torture her before he killed her. It was her worst nightmare, but she would endure him. And when the time came, she would overpower him.
“Ben is your best friend,” she said as he traced the edge of her bra with the tip of his knife. “Why did you kill Olivia? How could you do that to him?”
“She was a cheating whore. I did it for him.”
Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place, something she should have considered before. “Did you lie to the police for him, too? Claiming to be his alibi?”
“Of course.” He slid the blade down her stomach, skimming over her flesh. “Those fools took forever to find O’Shea.”
“How did you know he’d confess?”
“I didn’t,” he admitted. “That was just a stroke of luck.”
“What about the others? What did they do to deserve being brutally murdered?”
“Worthless sluts,” he said with a sigh. “I did the world a favor.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” she gasped, struggling for air. She didn’t have to feign her fear.
He shrugged. “It hardly matters. I knew it was over for me the minute I saw you standing in my bedroom.”
“You won’t make it out alive.”
He cut away the front of her trousers, nicking her hip. “Neither will you.”
CHAPTER 25
One moment they were punching it through the increasing fog, catching up with Destiny, and the next she was gone.
“What happened?” Ben asked, searching the horizon.
“He cut the lights,” Stephen said, reaching up to do the same. In an instant, they were cloaked in darkness.
Fear gripped him. “Why?”
“Either he realized he was being followed, or he stopped to…”
Ben’s chest tightened like a vise. “Go faster.”
“I can’t. In these conditions, we’d be right on top of them before I had a chance to react.”
Ben tried to stay calm, but it was impossible. He couldn’t bear the thought of Carly in danger. “I’m going out on deck,” he said, figuring he could see better from there.
“Good idea.”
Adrenaline rushing through his veins, he walked to the bow, eyes straining to see through the mist. When he caught up with JT, he was going to fucking kill him. Beat the hell out of him first. Then wrap his fingers around his throat and squeeze.
So intent was he on vengeance, he almost missed them. The fog was patchy, intermittent, but between the breaks he caught a glimpse. “Up ahead,” he shouted to Stephen, who nodded and changed direction slightly, making a beeline toward Destiny.
In its cab, Ben could see the vague outline of two figures, locked in struggle. From their respective heights he knew it was JT and Sonny.
No one else was visible. Where was Carly?
It felt as though Captain Trips was moving in slow motion. Christ, he could swim faster than this!
The sound of splashing alerted him to his daughter’s location. About twenty feet away from Destiny, there were two dark heads bobbing on the surface of the water. When he saw them, tears of relief sprung into his eyes. “Carly!” he shouted, leaning out over the rail.
“Daddy,” she cried back. “Help me!”
Ben didn’t hesitate. Carly needed him. There was no other choice to make. Taking a second to flip off his shoes, he leapt onto the railing and dove into the dark Pacific. The water was bracingly cold. Life-affirming. He reached her in a few sure strokes.
“It’s James,” she panted, her breath puffing out in front of her. In the moonlight, her eyes were black with fright. “I can’t hold him up.”
James was in the crook of her arm, unconscious. Rivulets of watery blood streaked down his ghostly-pale face. “Give him to me,” he ordered, shoving his forearm under James’ chin. The boy’s body was limp and his skin was icy. “Can you swim?” Ben asked Carly. If he had to, he’d drop James to save her. In a heartbeat.
No way would he let his daughter go under. No way.
“I think I’m okay,” she said, teeth chattering.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, Daddy, I’m just cold.”
Ben looked over his shoulder, keeping James’ head above the surface as he treaded water. JT and Sonny were out of his line of sight. While he watched, Stephen edged Captain Trips as close as he could to Destiny. Jumping distance, as a matter of fact.
“That crazy bastard,” he breathed, starting to swim. With his back to the boats, he couldn’t see what Stephen was doing, but he didn’t have to. He knew the kid was climbing onto the railing and hopping the gap. Acting a fool.
Risking his neck for a woman he didn’t even know.
Tears burned Ben’s eyes again, but he didn’t have time for them. He had to get Carly and James out of the water before he could help Stephen.
Ben knew JT was stronger than Sonny. He could probably strangle her in a matter of moments. Perhaps her FBI training had kept her alive this long, but JT wouldn’t continue to toy with her now.
Ben pushed that thought aside and focused on the task at hand, swimming as fast as he could. James wasn’t big, but he was heavy. Ben didn’t know how Carly had held him up at all. She reached Captain Trips before he did, climbing the aluminum ladder leading to the deck.
Getting James up the ladder was difficult. With Carly’s help, he managed, bracing his weight on one arm and wrapping the other around James’ midsection. When James’ back hit the deck, none too gently, he began to sputter and cough.